Productivity of inputs is an important determinant of the competitiveness of firms in national and international markets. Productivity growth arises from deliberate decisions to innovate but the technological opportunities could be such that different inputs would have different rates of growth. Previous literature has mostly concentrated on labor productivity but empirical studies indicate that productivity of capital is also increasing. One of the objectives of this book is to examine the difference or bias in the productivity growth of the two inputs.

In this book, application of this general approach to study of biased technical change is developed and new empirical results presented for both macroeconomies and microeconomic firms.

Organization, Performance and Equity: Perspectives on the Japanese Economy provides an analysis of key components of the Japanese economy and business structures, edited by two leading American-based Japan scholars. The contributions to this book are grouped into four major categories: organizations; income distributions; technological progress; and macro performance. The first section examines the retail sector, the role of information in evaluating distribution systems, and ownership structures and their effect on welfare, all in the context of the Japanese economy. The second section concerns issues of Japanese tax structures, growth, and income transfers, while the third section focuses on technology and productivity. The concluding section addresses major macro issues like trade and the value of the yen.

Modem geometric methods combine the intuitiveness of spatial visualization with the rigor of analytical derivation. Classical analysis is shown to provide a foundation for the study of geometry while geometrical ideas lead to analytical concepts of intrinsic beauty. Arching over many subdisciplines of mathematics and branching out in applications to every quantitative science, these methods are, notes the Russian mathematician A.T. Fomenko, in tune with the Renais sance traditions. Economists and finance theorists are already familiar with some aspects of this synthetic tradition. Bifurcation and catastrophe theo ries have been used to analyze the instability of economic models. Differential topology provided useful techniques for deriving results in general equilibrium analysis. But they are less aware of the central role that Felix Klein and Sophus Lie gave to group theory in the study of geometrical systems. Lie went on to show that the special methods used in solving differential equations can be classified through the study of the invariance of these equations under a continuous group of transformations. Mathematicians and physicists later recognized the relation between Lie's work on differential equations and symme try and, combining the visions of Hamilton, Lie, Klein and Noether, embarked on a research program whose vitality is attested by the innumerable books and articles written by them as well as by biolo gists, chemists and philosophers."

Symmetry and Economic Invariance (second enhanced edition) explores how the symmetry and invariance of economic models can provide insights into their properties. Although the professional economist of today is adept at many of the mathematical techniques used in static and dynamic optimization models, group theory is still not among his or her repertoire of tools. The authors aim to show that group theoretic methods form a natural extension of the techniques commonly used in economics and that they can be easily mastered. Part I provides an introduction that minimizes prerequisites including prior knowledge of group theory. Part II discusses recent developments in the field.

The health care sector has become a major component of the contemporary econo mies of Japan and the United States. It absorbs significant proportions of the GDP in both countries and places increasing stress on private, government and corporate budgets. As their income rises, the citizens ofJapan and the United States choose to allocate increasing portions of it on health care services because ofthe direct contri bution of health care services to prolonged life expectancy, reduced morbidity, or other indicators of improved health and well-being. The health care sector is a ma jor source ofemployment and affects the lives of all citizens. Adequate health care services are expected to have an important contribution to the quality of human life in any society. With so much at stake, arrangements for planning, financing, and operating health care service systems have increasingly come to be regarded as im portant economic and political issues. The political importance of health care is evidenced by the health care reform proposals of the Clinton administration in the United States and the deep involve ment of the government in the medical care security system in Japan. As policy makers in both countries look ahead to the coming decades, they realize that the imperatives of economic restructuring, globalization, and their rapidly aging socie ties will affect the way in which health care is organized, delivered, and financed."

Symmetry and Economic Invariance: An Introduction explores how symmetry and invariance of economic models can provide insights into their properties. While the professional economist is nowadays adept at many of the mathematical techniques used in static and dynamic optimization models, group theory is still not among his or her repertoire of tools. The authors aim to show that group theoretic methods form a natural extension of the techniques commonly used in economics and that they can be easily mastered.

This seminal work offers a carefully edited collection of Ryuzo Sato's pioneering contributions to the analysis of the theories of production, preference, stability and dynamic symmetry in economics.The author examines production functions and preference functions containing both goods and money and studies the stability of general equilibrium systems and economic conservation laws. The book also includes Professor Sato's groundbreaking work on the application of Lie group theory to the estimation of technical progress. This important book will be welcomed by scholars interested in technical change and progress.

Global Competition and Integration offers varied perspectives on the changing international economy. The book is divided into four main sections covering world trade and competition, innovation and growth, financial markets and globalization, and regulation, distribution, and the role of government.

Whether in the form of the ongoing automotive wars, books and films such as Michael Crichton's Rising Sun, or George Bush's ill-fated trip to Japan in 1991, frictions between the United States and Japan have been steadily on the rise. Americans are bombarded with images of Japan's fundamental difference; at the same time, voices in Japan call for a Japan That Can Say No. If the guiding principle of the Clinton administration is indeed new values for a new generation, how will this be reflected in U.S.-Japanese relations?
Convinced that no true solution to U.S.-Japanese frictions can be achieved without tracing these frictions back to their origin, Ryuzo Sato here draws on a binational experience that spans three decades in both the Japanese and American business and academic communities to do just that. In an attempt to bridge the communication gap between the two countries and dispel some of the mutual ignorance and misunderstanding that prevails between the two, Sato addresses the following questions:

--Is Japan really different?
--Has America's sun set?
--How have conflicting views on the role of government affected U.S.-Japan relations?
--What are the real differences in American and Japanese industrial policies?
--What is the anatomy of U.S.-Japanese antagonisms?
--What effect has the collapse of the bubble economy had on relations?
--What is Japan's future course? Is it truly a technological superpower? Can it avoid international isolation?

An incisive personal look at one of the most important political and economic global relationships, written by a major player in the world of international business and finance, THE CHRYSANTHEMUM AND THE EAGLE provides a readable and engaging tour of U.S.-Japan relations, past and present.

The essays in this 1989 book provide an overview of the causes and proposed remedies for the recurring bouts of trade friction between Japan and the United States. The authors, drawn from both government and academia, discuss issues of macroeconomic policy, trade policy and financial market integration.

The basic features of R & D and of technical change are presented in a descriptive fashion. An economic framework is then developed for studying endogenous technical change.

This revised edition of Ryuzo Sato's seminal work illustrates the timeless nature of his contribution to economics. It is as pertinent today as when it was originally conceived, over twenty years ago. This book deals with a variety of topics in economic theory, ranging from the analysis of production functions to the general recoverability problem of optimal dynamic behavior. They are unified in the theme of 'transformation and invariance'. This book demonstrates the first application of the Lie theory to modern economics and provides a revealing analysis of market behavior and economic invariance. This book will be of interest to scholars of industrial economics, innovation, econometrics and microeconomics.

The recent earthquake in Kobe posed an unexpected threat to Japan's future as a leader in world trade and investment. In the aftermath of such an event, Japan--U.S. relations are likely to become increasingly important as Japan seeks to rebuild itself and encourage international investment.

Trade and Investment in the 1990s provides crucial insight on the future of Japan--U.S. relations. Presenting views of such distinguished economists as Nobel Laureate Paul A. Samuelson, this volume covers such topics as Japan--U.S. relations under the Clinton Administration, trade negotiations, international competition and investment, and recent economic and financial trends. A compilation of recent lectures sponsored by The Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies at New York University, this volume is sure to be of use to all those interested in the critical relationship between Japan and the U.S.

This important volume collects together eighteen major essays written by Ryuzo Sato over the last thirty years in the area of growth theory and technical change. After an autobiographical introduction describing Professor Sato's intellectual and personal development, the book presents his early pioneering work on growth models and the relevance of fiscal policy and time in these models. Later essays focus on the application of optimal control theory to growth theory, his work on endogenous growth, endogenous technical change and the development of 'Sato-Beckmann neutrality'. This landmark book will be welcomed by researchers, teachers and students interested in technical change and progress.

Distinguished economists from seven countries provide authoritative perspectives within four topical areas: general trade issues; issues in economic development; the Japanese economy; and trial policy and technological change.

Symmetry and Economic Invariance (second enhanced edition) explores how the symmetry and invariance of economic models can provide insights into their properties. Although the professional economist of today is adept at many of the mathematical techniques used in static and dynamic optimization models, group theory is still not among his or her repertoire of tools. The authors aim to show that group theoretic methods form a natural extension of the techniques commonly used in economics and that they can be easily mastered. Part I provides an introduction that minimizes prerequisites including prior knowledge of group theory. Part II discusses recent developments in the field.

The health care sector has become a major component of the contemporary econo mies of Japan and the United States. It absorbs significant proportions of the GDP in both countries and places increasing stress on private, government and corporate budgets. As their income rises, the citizens ofJapan and the United States choose to allocate increasing portions of it on health care services because ofthe direct contri bution of health care services to prolonged life expectancy, reduced morbidity, or other indicators of improved health and well-being. The health care sector is a ma jor source ofemployment and affects the lives of all citizens. Adequate health care services are expected to have an important contribution to the quality of human life in any society. With so much at stake, arrangements for planning, financing, and operating health care service systems have increasingly come to be regarded as im portant economic and political issues. The political importance of health care is evidenced by the health care reform proposals of the Clinton administration in the United States and the deep involve ment of the government in the medical care security system in Japan. As policy makers in both countries look ahead to the coming decades, they realize that the imperatives of economic restructuring, globalization, and their rapidly aging socie ties will affect the way in which health care is organized, delivered, and financed.

Symmetry and Economic Invariance: An Introduction explores how symmetry and invariance of economic models can provide insights into their properties. While the professional economist is nowadays adept at many of the mathematical techniques used in static and dynamic optimization models, group theory is still not among his or her repertoire of tools. The authors aim to show that group theoretic methods form a natural extension of the techniques commonly used in economics and that they can be easily mastered.

Organization, Performance and Equity: Perspectives on the Japanese Economy provides an analysis of key components of the Japanese economy and business structures, edited by two leading American-based Japan scholars. The contributions to this book are grouped into four major categories: organizations; income distributions; technological progress; and macro performance. The first section examines the retail sector, the role of information in evaluating distribution systems, and ownership structures and their effect on welfare, all in the context of the Japanese economy. The second section concerns issues of Japanese tax structures, growth, and income transfers, while the third section focuses on technology and productivity. The concluding section addresses major macro issues like trade and the value of the yen.

Global Competition and Integration offers varied perspectives on the changing international economy. The book is divided into four main sections covering world trade and competition, innovation and growth, financial markets and globalization, and regulation, distribution, and the role of government.

This volume presents the proceedings of an international conference held in 1986, a year in which the policy frictions between Japan and the United States were particularly heated. The issues discussed herein are of broader interest than the crises reported in the daily press. The conference programme and discussions attempt to put these crises in perspective and thereby contribute to our understanding of economic policy.

This book examines the role of United States macroeconomic policy in the large and growing trade imbalance between Japan and the United States. To a substantial extent, it traces the causes of the current dilemma to failed U.S. macroeconomic policies. However, a careful examination of Japan's role in the bilateral trade imbalance reveals that Japan has exacerbated the problem in a variety of ways. Policy analyses, as well as econometric forecasts of the U.S. macroeconomy, are included.

Modem geometric methods combine the intuitiveness of spatial visualization with the rigor of analytical derivation. Classical analysis is shown to provide a foundation for the study of geometry while geometrical ideas lead to analytical concepts of intrinsic beauty. Arching over many subdisciplines of mathematics and branching out in applications to every quantitative science, these methods are, notes the Russian mathematician A.T. Fomenko, in tune with the Renais sance traditions. Economists and finance theorists are already familiar with some aspects of this synthetic tradition. Bifurcation and catastrophe theo ries have been used to analyze the instability of economic models. Differential topology provided useful techniques for deriving results in general equilibrium analysis. But they are less aware of the central role that Felix Klein and Sophus Lie gave to group theory in the study of geometrical systems. Lie went on to show that the special methods used in solving differential equations can be classified through the study of the invariance of these equations under a continuous group of transformations. Mathematicians and physicists later recognized the relation between Lie's work on differential equations and symme try and, combining the visions of Hamilton, Lie, Klein and Noether, embarked on a research program whose vitality is attested by the innumerable books and articles written by them as well as by biolo gists, chemists and philosophers."

Productivity of inputs is an important determinant of the competitiveness of firms in national and international markets. Productivity growth arises from deliberate decisions to innovate but the technological opportunities could be such that different inputs would have different rates of growth. Previous literature has mostly concentrated on labor productivity but empirical studies indicate that productivity of capital is also increasing. One of the objectives of this book is to examine the difference or bias in the productivity growth of the two inputs.

In this book, application of this general approach to study of biased technical change is developed and new empirical results presented for both macroeconomies and microeconomic firms.

The essays in this 1989 book provide an overview of the causes and proposed remedies for the recurring bouts of trade friction between Japan and the United States. The authors, drawn from both government and academia, discuss issues of macroeconomic policy, trade policy and financial market integration.